1. Why didst thou promise
such a beauteous day,
2. And make me travel forth without my cloak,
3. To let base clouds o'ertake me in my way,
4. Hiding thy bravery in their rotten smoke?
5. 'Tis not enough that through the cloud thou break,
6. To dry the rain on my storm-beaten face,
7. For no man well of such a salve can speak,
8. That heals the wound, and cures not the disgrace:
9. Nor can thy shame give physic to my grief;
10. Though thou repent, yet I have still the loss:
11. The offender's sorrow lends but weak relief
12. To him that bears the strong offence's cross.
13. Ah! but those tears are pearl which thy love sheds,
14. And they are rich and ransom all ill deeds.

This is
linked closely to the previous sonnet
in thought and language. The offence referred to may be a neglect or
denial
by the youth of any attachment to his friend, despite having given him
assurances
that he was committed to enduring love. Hence the beauteous day which
was
promised, encouraging the poet to cast away the cloak of defensive
secrecy.
A denial of friendship appears to call forth the language of the
Gospels
through association of the experience with Peter's denial of Christ.
This
was followed by Peter's repentance and sorrow, and indeed tears, as
here.
Matt.26. 31-4, 74-5. Mark 14.30, Luke 22.61-2.

The link may be
tenuous, but Shakespeare does in
his plays use NT allusions as a subtle, oblique comment on situations
that
have arisen. Such a bold step is not without parallel in the Sonnets,
as
e.g. in 108
..... but yet, like prayers
divine,
I must each day say o'er the very same;
Counting no old thing old, thou mine, I thine,
Even as when first I hallow'd thy fair name,
where the echoing of the Lord's Prayer is obvious. (Further details in
the
commentary below ll.10-12).

To
let baſe cloudes ore-take
me in my way,
Hiding thy brau'ry in their rotten ſmoke.
Tis not enough that through the cloude thou breake,
To dry the raine on my ſtorme-beaten face,
For no man well of ſuch a ſalue can ſpeake,
That heales the wound, and cures not the diſgrace:
Nor can thy ſhame give phiſicke to my griefe,
Though thou repent , yet I haue ſtill the loſſe,
Th' offenders ſorrow lends but weake reliefe
To him that beares the ſtrong offenſes loſſe.
Ah but thoſe teares are pearle which thy loue
ſheeds,
And they are ritch,and ranſome all ill deeds.

1.
Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day,

1.
Lines 1-2 echo the proverb 'Although the
sun shines, leave not your cloak at home'.didst thou = did you (the youth; the sun).

2.
And make me travel forth without my cloak,

2. travel
- Q gives the spelling travaile,
and the words travel and travail seem to have been indistinguishable in
Elizabethan orthography. 'Travel' in the modern sense has lost its
association
with pain and toil, and has become a separate word. without my cloak = unprepared for bad wetaher.

3.
To let base clouds o'ertake me in my way,

3. base
clouds -almosta
repetition of the phrase used in 33.5: Anon permit the basest clouds to ride
o'ertake me in my way = overtake me as I set out, overtake me
as I progressed
on my journey.

4.
Hiding thy bravery in their rotten smoke?

4. bravery
= splendid appearance; rotten smoke = noxious vapours. Mists, fogs
and all exhalations from
marshes and damp places were considered to be foul and dangerous.

5.
'Tis not enough that through the cloud thou break,

5. 'Tis
not enough = it is not a sufficient
alleviation (of my pain and disgrace). that
through the cloud thou break = that you do on occasion break through the
cloud (and
bring sunshine). There is a hint here of 'even if you do', or 'given
that
you might'.

6.
To dry the rain on my storm-beaten face,

6. Perhaps
there is a suggestion here of the
beloved youth wiping away tears from the lover's face.

7.
For no man well of such a salve can speak,

7. For no
man can speak well of, or praise,
such a salve, that etc. salve = ointment, lotion.

8.
That heals the wound, and cures not the disgrace:

8. disgrace
- the shame, the scar tissue,
which remains after the wound has healed. The disgrace in this case is
the
shame of having been (publicly ?) rejected by the youth. Or whatever
else
(unknown to us) that is hinted at as the offence and sensual fault that
is the cause of their estrangement. Disgrace also
had the meaning
of physical disfigurement, a meaning which is now lost.

9.
Nor can thy shame give physic to my grief;

9.shame
- in the sense of being ashamed
of some offence commited; physic = medicine,
medical treatment.

10.
Though thou repent, yet I have still the loss:

10. repent
- this, together with offender,
cross, tears and ransom in lines 11 - 14
are words which invoke
Christian teachings of sin, forgiveness and redemption. The tears of
repentance
in line 13, like Peter's tears on remembering what Jesus had said to
him,
also point to a strong New Testament echo. (See notes to the next two
lines).
One may question whether the poet would have risked the charge of
blasphemy
by linking himself to Christ in this way (he is the one betrayed, the
one
who has to bear the cross, the one who forgives, the one for whom tears
of repentance are shed). It is possible that the first audience for
these
sonnets, the ones in the inner circle for whom they were originally
written,
would have picked up the tenuous allusions and enjoyed them for the
richness
of context which they add to the poem. They are blasphemous only if
taken
in a mocking sense, but when used to show that all human love is a
mirror
of divine love, even to the details when that love endures betrayal,
they
become things of beauty.

11.
The offender's sorrow lends but weak relief

11. offender
= he who has commited the
sin, one who has stumbled morally. In the tale of Peter's denial of
Christ,
Jesus foretells that his disciples will 'be offended' because of him
(i.e.
caused to sin).
'Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because
of me this
night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of
the
flock will be scattered abroad.
But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Peter
answered
and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee,
yet
will I never be offended.
Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night before the
cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice'. Matt.26.31-35.
See also Mark 14.26-30.
Note that to offend = to stumble morally, to
commit sin. (OED.2.).

12.
To him that bears the strong offence's cross.

12. cross
- in the sense of burden,
sorrow, Christ's cross, which was the burden of the world's sin. cross
is Capell's emendation for Q's losse, which repeats
the word from
l.10. It seems a valid emendation, especially if one accepts the NT
derivation
of these lines. Matt. 10.38. And he that taketh not his
cross, and followeth
after me, is not worthy of me. Also Mark 10.34, Luke 9.23
& 14.27,
esp. the latter: And whosever does not bear his cross...

strong = severe,
harsh.

13.
Ah! but those tears are pearl which thy love sheds,

13. pearls
- pearls were jewels of costly
price. They were also thought to have a medicinal value, if ground up
and
taken as a powder. thy love = your love for me (causes to be
shed). sheds - Q gives the alternative, archaic
spelling - sheeds
- which preserves the rhyme.

14.
And they are rich and ransom all ill deeds.

14. rich
= precious, valuable (pearls
were scarce then as now, and were a valuable jewel); ransom - in the sense of redeem, do adequate
penance for. But also
'pay the price of '. Sins could be regarded as running up a debt of
punsihment
which had to be paid off by the offender.